"Tehran's a bad government, to be sure, But sometimes it's worth trying to put yourself in the guy's shoes. if you lived in Tehran, and the United States invaded the country to the East of you, and the United States invaded the country to the West of you, and it was reported that the US government was funding covert operations against you, and President Bush had named you part of the Axis of Evil....well, you wouldn't have to be paranoid [to perceive a threat]." Update: The odd thing about this comment, which sounds like a fresh, even brave, bit of analysis, is that it's actually not analytical at all. It's like looking at my kitchen and noting there's a counter inside it, or stepping outside and saying it's humid. That just is Iran's objective strategic situation: American invasions leading to huge masses of American troops in two neighboring states, American bases up north in Uzbekistan, and a long history of American comments calling clearly and loudly for regime change in Tehran. And then we run around shaking our heads about how crazy it is for Iran to want a nuclear weapon, they must be 12th Imam millenialists who are too crazy to be negotiated with.
